Published: Friday, February 15, 2013 at 10:56 p.m.

Last Modified: Friday, February 15, 2013 at 10:56 p.m.

After five-and-a-half innings of back-and-forth baseball, Friday night’s game between North Marion and Trinity Catholic ultimately came down to a power struggle.

The visiting Colts, clinging to a 5-4 lead, called on hard-throwing right-hander Alec Hayes to nail down their first win of the season.

The Celtics, playing their first game of 2013, countered with left-handed slugger Dash Winningham.

Hayes, who is capable of touching 90-plus on the radar gun, came right at the reigning Star-Banner player of the year. His first fastball sawed off Winningham, who scattered the Colt dugout with a wickedly hit line drive.

Hayes challenged him again with his next offering — another fastball — that a still-tardy Winningham managed to lift out of play down the left field line.

But Winningham wouldn’t be fooled again. The big lefty caught up to the next heater he saw, roping a two-out, two-run single to left-center that gave the Celtics a 6-5 lead.

Senior David Larger then worked out of a minor jam in the top of the seventh to earn the victory as Trinity won its season-opener in dramatic fashion.

“That’s just big on big right there,” Trinity coach Tommy Bond said of the showdown. “That’s something we try to simulate in practice... and that’s what it’s for right there.

“I like our chances with Dash at the plate. He did a great job to square it up and we were able to get two big runs. (Hayes) runs it up there pretty good, but Dash is a competitive kid. He’s gonna keep battling.”

Both teams battled the cold weather as well as the rust of a long offseason Friday night as two postseason mainstays combined for 14 walks, five hit batters and eight errors.

The Celtics scratched out a 2-0 lead on North Marion starter Dalton Southerland despite just two hits against the right-hander. But after an infield error to start the fourth, the Colts’ Walker Burgess laced an RBI single off Celtic starter Jesse Lepore to cut it to 2-1.

An inning later — after another Celtic miscue allowed Ryan Crile (2-for-3, stolen base) to score from third to knot the score at 2 — Southerland crushed a three-run homer to give the Colts a commanding 5-2 lead.

But North Marion (0-2) would give two back in the bottom of the fifth when pinch-runner Tim Sada scored his third run of the night on an errant throw from the outfield, and Alex Merritt came around to score on a wild pitch from left-handed reliever Kyle Kalbaugh.

It’s those types of plays that has Colts skipper Dale Hall scratching his head after losses to Forest and Trinity to open the season.

“We just haven’t played fundamental baseball this week at all,” Hall said. “I was pleased with our hitters battling back against a good pitcher, but we just didn’t pitch it well tonight. We issued 12 free passes — 10 walks and two hit by pitches. I don’t care who you’re playing, you can’t give away that many opportunities and expect to come out with a win.”

Trinity (1-0) made enough mistakes to lose, but Bond came away impressed with his team’s guts down the stretch. The Celtics lost three seniors off last year’s squad, but the veteran coach sees the ingredients to make another postseason run this year if his team continues to grow.

“They’ve got some toughness about them,” Bond said of his club. “We get down three runs, but they just battled back until we could get to Dash.

“That’s a good (North Marion) team over there. That’s a good first win for us. Dale’s got a talented group top to bottom.”

Meanwhile, the Colts, who had their Thursday night game with 7A Buchholz rained out, have opened the season against a stacked schedule. A formula Hall hopes will pay dividends when the playoffs roll around.

“Our schedule is extremely competitive,” Hall said. “We schedule the best possible competition we can play, just to get us ready for the playoffs. We knew it was going to be an excruciatingly tough start, but we expected to play a lot better. We are all about the fundamentals of the game and right now we’re just not clicking as a defensive unit — whether it be on the mound or in the field.”

<p>After five-and-a-half innings of back-and-forth baseball, Friday night's game between North Marion and Trinity Catholic ultimately came down to a power struggle.</p><p>The visiting Colts, clinging to a 5-4 lead, called on hard-throwing right-hander Alec Hayes to nail down their first win of the season.</p><p>The Celtics, playing their first game of 2013, countered with left-handed slugger Dash Winningham.</p><p>Hayes, who is capable of touching 90-plus on the radar gun, came right at the reigning Star-Banner player of the year. His first fastball sawed off Winningham, who scattered the Colt dugout with a wickedly hit line drive.</p><p>Hayes challenged him again with his next offering — another fastball — that a still-tardy Winningham managed to lift out of play down the left field line.</p><p>But Winningham wouldn't be fooled again. The big lefty caught up to the next heater he saw, roping a two-out, two-run single to left-center that gave the Celtics a 6-5 lead.</p><p>Senior David Larger then worked out of a minor jam in the top of the seventh to earn the victory as Trinity won its season-opener in dramatic fashion.</p><p>“That's just big on big right there,” Trinity coach Tommy Bond said of the showdown. “That's something we try to simulate in practice... and that's what it's for right there.</p><p>“I like our chances with Dash at the plate. He did a great job to square it up and we were able to get two big runs. (Hayes) runs it up there pretty good, but Dash is a competitive kid. He's gonna keep battling.”</p><p>Both teams battled the cold weather as well as the rust of a long offseason Friday night as two postseason mainstays combined for 14 walks, five hit batters and eight errors.</p><p>The Celtics scratched out a 2-0 lead on North Marion starter Dalton Southerland despite just two hits against the right-hander. But after an infield error to start the fourth, the Colts' Walker Burgess laced an RBI single off Celtic starter Jesse Lepore to cut it to 2-1.</p><p>An inning later — after another Celtic miscue allowed Ryan Crile (2-for-3, stolen base) to score from third to knot the score at 2 — Southerland crushed a three-run homer to give the Colts a commanding 5-2 lead.</p><p>But North Marion (0-2) would give two back in the bottom of the fifth when pinch-runner Tim Sada scored his third run of the night on an errant throw from the outfield, and Alex Merritt came around to score on a wild pitch from left-handed reliever Kyle Kalbaugh.</p><p>It's those types of plays that has Colts skipper Dale Hall scratching his head after losses to Forest and Trinity to open the season.</p><p>“We just haven't played fundamental baseball this week at all,” Hall said. “I was pleased with our hitters battling back against a good pitcher, but we just didn't pitch it well tonight. We issued 12 free passes — 10 walks and two hit by pitches. I don't care who you're playing, you can't give away that many opportunities and expect to come out with a win.”</p><p>Trinity (1-0) made enough mistakes to lose, but Bond came away impressed with his team's guts down the stretch. The Celtics lost three seniors off last year's squad, but the veteran coach sees the ingredients to make another postseason run this year if his team continues to grow.</p><p>“They've got some toughness about them,” Bond said of his club. “We get down three runs, but they just battled back until we could get to Dash.</p><p>“That's a good (North Marion) team over there. That's a good first win for us. Dale's got a talented group top to bottom.”</p><p>Meanwhile, the Colts, who had their Thursday night game with 7A Buchholz rained out, have opened the season against a stacked schedule. A formula Hall hopes will pay dividends when the playoffs roll around.</p><p>“Our schedule is extremely competitive,” Hall said. “We schedule the best possible competition we can play, just to get us ready for the playoffs. We knew it was going to be an excruciatingly tough start, but we expected to play a lot better. We are all about the fundamentals of the game and right now we're just not clicking as a defensive unit — whether it be on the mound or in the field.”</p>